No kidding!
I had just checked kernel.org minutes before this story was posted. I began the download before the story, only to see it drastically slow down halfway through. So I checked Slashdot, and here we are!

I use an Apple iBook2 as my primary desktop, with an x86 for a server/renderer. Is PowerPC/Sparc/etc support focused on early or late in the development cycle? Should I expect the file I'm downloading to compile, or collapse?

I decided to test 2.6.0-test1 on one of my primary servers. After building the kernel, I had to install the Debian module-init-tools package (required to manipulate kernel modules in 2.6) and edit/etc/modprobe.conf to alias what module to load for my ethernet cards and for the PS/2 mouse driver (the "mousedev" module). And then it just ran. It's been serving perens.com for days.

I am also running it on my Vaio U-101 (a Pentium 4 600 sub-laptop that fits in a fanny-pack).

I'd love to test this but it won't boot for me as I have some kind of drive manager on my 60GB DeskStar drive. My partitions don't show up. Support for drive managers eg OnTrack has been removed in 2.6. Does anyone know how to remove this from a drive non-destructively ?

Here are some issues not discussed in the kernel documentation, that need to be resolved before technical users who know nothing about the kernel (like me) will be able to test the kernel in any meaningful way...

How to configure support for Virtual Terminals?

Using an install straight from the Debian Woody DVD-R, it can compile, boot and get to X. However there is absolutely no output from "loading kernel...", to the start of X, and cntl-alt-f1 gets be to an unchanged screen, not a login prompt. I know that VT support is not enabled by default (why?), but enabling VT and console on VT does not make any difference. Same thing happens with Mandrake 9.1.

Are compile errors for default configuration OK?

I thought I may have accidentally removed something required for VT support. So I made a completely default install, i.e. "make config" and hold down enter for all questions. However, this would not even compile on gcc 3.95.4 from Debian Woody. Are drivers that don't even compile enabled by default, or is the statement in the docs that any gcc 3.95.x where x>3 will be ok, out of date?

Would getting the.config file from a working install of 2.6-test help?

If so do you have a link?

Why does make modules_install complain about missing dependencies?

Why doesn't it just make the dependencies? What are we meant to do about this?

Also, is NTFS write support ready for end-user testing in non-mission critical situations?

Does anyone know if there is anything diffrent w/ xfs or raid in 2.6? I tried out 2.6 beta 1 with my striping raid which is all xfs(just software raid on hpt370 card)...When I booted into 2.6 my keyboard didn't work, so i booted back into 2.4.20 and my raid was absolutely insane(no files showing up), so I rebooted once more into 2.4 and it fixed itself...Anyone have any idea why that would happen, can I expect better behavior with 2.6 beta 2?

In Linux 2.6 the old NTFS driver support was removed and new better code [sf.net] installed instead. The NTFS write support is there, but very, very limited; the only good use for NTFS write support I know about is Topologi-Linux [sourceforge.net], which allows you to run Linux installed in a large loop-mounted file on an NTFS disk (don't need to partition your MS Windows disk to try out Linux, yet get a full "normal" install).

See http://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfsresize.htm l#write for more info on the old vs new NTFS support in Linux.

BTW, the kernel config help is outdated on this subject and gives seriously wrong advice. Hopefully we can fix that soon.

I've tried three of these, 2.5.74, 2.6.0-test1 and -test2. Every time I boot up the kernel (bzImage from arch/i386/boot) it says "Uncompressing linux... OK " and that's it. Nothing else. I would really love to get this to work out, especially the native ALSA support (my sound card works great under ALSA, not so great under OSS). I'm wondering if perhaps some of the stuff I've compiled in is inhibiting the boot process.

I have IDE support compiled right in, my CPU is set up correctly (x86/Pentium-II), I'm not using anything fancy like initrd et al, I have ACPI and APM enabled, nss what else I can mention.

Installed module-init-tools and converted over my old profile (just had two aliases for my network cards), depmod runs w/o any problems (I remembered to pass in the symbols for the new kernel).... argh.

On Fri, Jul 18, 2003 at 03:51:36PM -0400, Richard Stallman wrote:> > If you are trying to copy BK, give it up. We'll simply follow in the> > footsteps of every other company faced with this sort of thing and change> > the protocol every 6 months. Since you would be chasing us you can never> > catch up. If you managed to stay close then we'd put digital signatures> > into the protocol to prevent your clone from interoperating with BK.